Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An issue I have raised with the Minister previously, and that I hope he will look it, relates to the appeals process. We are all aware that people sometimes put in FOI requests that are refused or the information is redacted and after an appeal, that information becomes available. We need to consider that in terms of transparency. FOI is there to provide as much transparency as possible. That kind of thing should not be seen as creating barriers for people to get that information. Most people look at it in good faith and do not take that approach, but a good provision in the updated Bill would be that the Department has to refund appeals that are upheld. We could then see the amount of money that is spent on the refunding of appeals and we would have a clear indication. It can only be of benefit for us to know which Departments are not engaging as proactively in the FOI process as they should be.

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